“I’m fine,” she whispered, her eyes pinned on him as if afraid he’d vanish as soon as she shut them. “It’s all so new again.”
“I’m here, my heart, feel me…” Arms braced on the bed, muscles straining, he pushed into her in a slow, deep glide until he bottomed out, feeling her body as it clenched around him. As he retreated, then slid into her again, those shadows in her beautiful eyes lightened.
Unable to hold on, he thrust faster, harder, the sounds of their bodies coming together echoing around them, and she moved with him, her nails digging into his biceps, passion adding a deeper flush to her delicate features.
“Nik…” she whimpered.
“I have you, baby.” He slid his thumb firmly over her clit, rolling her flesh, and tugged. She cried, her body bowing beneath him, squeezing his cock like a vise as her orgasm broke. His own release barreled down his spine like lightning, flashing through him as they came together as one. Nik grunted. Warmth, like a white light, flooded him, spreading into her…reflecting in her eyes as their souls reconnected, their mating bond slipping back into place.
Breathing hard and feeling a whole lot shaky at the intenseness of their souls rejoining, Nik rested his brow against hers. He basked in the intimacy of their mate bond once more, feeling her warm glow deep within him, immensely grateful he hadn’t destroyed their mystical link.
A hand brushed his hair away from his face.
Nik eased back. “I’m too heavy—”
She shook her head, her arms tightening around him, keeping him there. She touched his jaw, eyes bright with unshed tears. “I never got to tell you I love you, too. And I do, so much.”
His heart cramping, he kissed her. “I’m insanely in love with you,agápi mou. Now, forever, for always. Not even death would keep us apart.”
Chapter 37
Shadow’s hearthammered in her chest after their intense coming together. Nik’s warmth settling inside her once more, the hollowness within gone. She pressed her lips to his pecs, so grateful to have him back—
Oh… Her heartbeat picked up more speed, remembering. She had to tell him their ginormous news.
“Nik?”
“Mm-hmm?” He kissed her throat, his mouth gliding down to her breastbone, his hair trailing along her skin like sensual fingers. She grasped his head, stopping him. “There’s something I must tell you.”
“Later. I’ve missed you, and I just want to hold you, to love you again—”
A low whine drifted to them.
Nik lifted his head, his brow creasing, his gaze flicking toward the window. “What the hell is that?”
He eased out of her body, rose from the bed, and stalked naked to the window. Damn. Shadow scrambled off the bed. She grabbed her discarded t-shirt, wiped herself, tossed it aside before hurrying after him.
“It’s that freakin’ hellhound!”
“I know.”
“Why haven’t the others dealt with it?” He went motionless, his narrowed stare wheeling to her. “What do you mean,you know?”
“Because after we killed Mammon, he followed me here. He came every night while I was, umm, healing. And I had to nurture my symbionts, so I fed from him. Except for you, his dark energy lasts me longer than that of all the demons. And the succoring calms him…” She bit her lip. He stared at her as if she spoke another language.
“Nik, those amorphous demons from Tartarus sent him to get you back there. Pithius told me,” she quickly added at his thunderous expression. “But you no longer possessed the souls since I’d taken them from you. It’s why he came after me. Except, when I touched him that night in the alley, I calmed the constant rage in him. Despite everything that occurred after, in the end, Pithius saved me…saved our baby.”
Growling, Nik glared down at the hound again, and she saw the precise moment when what she said hit him. He went deathly still. Slowly, he turned to her. “What…what did you say?”
She gave him a trembling smile. “We’re going to have a baby.”
He blinked, going paler than she did when she suffered through her morning sickness.
She quickly slipped her arm around his lean, hard waist. “Sit down.”
Nope, her big, strong warrior did no such thing. He hauled her to him, crushing her with arms like steel manacles. Then he dropped to his knees, resting his cheek on her tummy. He didn’t move for several seconds. When he finally looked up, tears glinted in his eyes. “We’re going to have a babe—” A smile started. “A young,” he whispered, pressing a tender kiss to her belly. “In my millennia’s long existence, I never thought I’d experience anything this powerful and beautiful, except for finding you.”
Her own eyes watered, and she lowered to a crouch. “You’ll make a wonderful father, my love.” She caressed that intractable jaw. “I know, because I feel it.” She touched her chest. “And I see it in the way you love me.”
